Skies over southern Greece, including Athens, turned orange on Tuesday due to dust clouds blown from the Sahara Desert. Strong winds carried the dust from the Sahara Desert, giving the atmosphere of the Greek capital a Martian-like filter in the last hours of daylight and engulfing Athens’ famous Acropolis.
“It’s one of the most serious episodes of dust and sand concentrations from the Sahara since March 21-22, 2018, when the clouds invaded the island of Crete in particular,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, of the Athens Observatory.
The fire service said on Tuesday evening that a total 25 wildfires broke out across the country in the past 24 hours. Three people were arrested on the Aegean Sea resort island of Paros on suspicion of accidentally starting a scrub blaze on Monday, it added. No significant damage or injuries were reported, and the fire was quickly contained. Another blaze that broke out on Crete near a naval base was brought under control on Tuesday.
Greece was previously hit by Sahara dust clouds in late March and early April which also smothered parts of Switzerland and southern France. The dust clouds have led to officials warning of the risk of increased concentrations of fine pollution particles, posing a danger for people with underlying health problems.
The skies were predicted to clear on Wednesday as winds shift and move the dust, with temperatures dipping. On Tuesday, the daily high in parts of the southern island of Crete topped 30C, more than 20 degrees C higher than what was registered in much of northern Greece.
The strong southerly winds over the past few days have also fanned unseasonal early wildfires in the country’s south. Greece suffers devastating, and often deadly, forest blazes every summer, and last year the country recorded the European Union’s largest wildfire in more than two decades. Persistent drought combined with high spring temperatures has raised fears of a particularly challenging period for firefighters in the coming months.
